


Trepidation

by tombstonestomorrow (orphan_account)



Category: Red Robin (Comics), Superboy (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Allergies, Alternate Canon, Anaphylaxis, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hallucinations, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, M/M, Mutual Pining, Secret Identity, fear toxin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-21
Packaged: 2018-03-07 00:12:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3153512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/tombstonestomorrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tim Drake wasn't sure what to expect when he'd been told he had an allergic reaction to the Scarecrow's newest batch of highly potent Fear Toxin.</p><p>But, it probably wasn't citywide panic, voluntary evacuation, and reuniting with his best friend who doesn't know why he seems so familiar..</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> AU: Tim Drake's identity was never revealed to his friends, Conner couldn't find Tim in Gotham when he came back after being dead, and Scarecrow sets his sights on mass kidnapping.
> 
> This idea came from a combination of re-reading Red Robin issue 9 and watching the "Father to Son" trailer for Arkham Knight. Of course, my logical thought was "What if Scarecrow attacked the city in the comics?", which led to "How can I make this TimKon?"
> 
> Thank you for reading!

The night was just cold enough for Tim to be able to see his own breath while making his way through the city. Kevlar covered every part of Tim’s body except for the lower half of his face, and he could feel his lips almost going numb in the late December air. It was nearing the end of the Christmas season, and Dick had figured that the largest crime that he and Damian would have to deal with was theft. Nonetheless, Dick had enlisted the help of Red Robin, just in case there were too many robberies occurring for just the two to deal with. They all had split up to watch over the city, being led where to go by Barbara, who was visiting the Waynes for Christmas, on a live feed from the cave. Dick and Damian had taken the north and easternmost sides of the city, and Tim had been given the opposite to himself. 

The large tree in the park downtown was still alight, even though it was much too late for any person to be observing it. It was nearing two in the morning, and the only parts of town that were busy were the nightlife areas. The main club locations were being covered by Tim, so the Dynamic Duo didn’t have much to worry about. Dick had told him that the crime on his half of the city would more than likely be less, which was why he had given the entire section to Tim. Which was a blatant lie, Tim had thought to himself. 

Tim had been spending his time in between crusading on the rooftop of a club whilst Barbara was attempting to find crime he could handle by himself, brooding over what had happened in his adoptive family only a few months earlier. 

Batman had attempted to finish off the one who had killed his parents, and had apparently died in the process. Dick took up the Batman mantle, and Tim was forced to drop his place as Robin and hand it over to Bruce’s only biological son. Tim didn’t know what to do with his life: His best friend had died a year before Bruce had bitten the dust, and after many desperate cloning attempts he gave up, accepted his best friend’s death and his own failure. 

Tim had never been the same, after seeing Conner lay dead in the sand, the clone’s strong features splattered with his own blood. He refused to believe that Bruce was dead, yet Tim had seen Kon dead with his own two eyes; Tim had felt for Kon-el’s pulse only to find that there was none. Although the rigid secret identity rules Bruce enforced prevented Superboy from seeing Tim’s entire face, or knowing his identity, they had eventually become very close friends. Being leader of the Teen Titans, going with his friends on missions had been the best time of his life. After Superboy’s death.. Things had never been the same. He’d stepped down as leader and given the role to Wonder Girl. 

“It’s better off this way.” He quietly mused to himself after snapping out of his funk, attempting to reassure himself. He wasn’t succeeding.

“Red Robin, there’s a feed disruption in one of the clubs… Far left, painted bright pink, it’s named Neon Angel.” Barbara’s voice crackled into his ear, making him jump slightly.

“Thanks, Oracle.” He murmured, making his way over the rooftops. 

The clubs all had low roofs, unlike the skyscrapers of downtown Gotham city. The buildings on the street all admitted a neon glow, some looking like warehouses, and others were painted wild colors. Tim landed on the roof of Neon Angel, and, realizing it was a strip club, he rolled his eyes.

He was 17, and would be a junior if he hadn’t graduated early. He would have to sneak in through an open spot in the building, or somehow produce an ID proclaiming him the legal age to enter the club, as most people in Gotham could tell by Tim’s more lithe stature that he wasn't over 18. It was easy to get into dance clubs at a young age, but serious age restrictions on sex held even in the bad part of town. 

Tim hopped down into the dingy back alleyway, eyeing the back door. Locked. So was the side entrance for performers. Tim would have to slip in from the designated exit that opened towards the street. The young crime fighter circled towards the entrance, noticing in confusion that bouncers were not positioned at the doors, and all doors were locked. All were blacked out glass, impossible for him to see through. Tim would have to break in. Whatever was happening in there was not something petty like an escalated bar fight Tim could casually break up. 

Tim messed around with the locked door. He eventually resorted to using a laser to break the inner workings of the standard door lock. As soon as he opened the door Tim’s eyes started tearing up: It was the Scarecrow’s fear gas, filling the club space instead of the cliche fog machine they always used at these kinds of joints. 

Immediately, Tim attempted to back out of the club. His eyes widened. He’d seen people under the influence of fear toxin and, it had always secretly scared Tim enough to avoid ever coming into contact with it. That’s why he’d adamantly avoided anything having to do with Jonathan Crane. Recently, Tim had had an idea of what he would hallucinate under its grasp, and now it would slowly become a reality.

Tim glanced around the club, quickly determining that the entire club was in a state of almost complete disarray. The teen stumbled further into the club, attempting to stay upright as his body eventually attempted to reject the thick toxin, almost sending him into a full asthma attack. The hallucinogens in the gas affected everyone in the room’s deepest fears, and instead of leaving them at least somewhat lucid, as it usually did, the toxin affected them completely. 

Some were laying on the ground in fear, screaming, shouting things. Others were trying to fight imaginary figures, and by extension starting real fights. Bruce had given him the necessary training to avoid the basic panic caused the toxin, but only in small controlled doses. Tim figured that the majority of the air in the room was composed of the fear toxin, and the oxygen levels in the air were more than likely too low. That much was cleared up when he noticed that several were lying on the floor, knocked out cold from oxygen deprivation. 

Blindly feeling for his earpiece, he held down the button, sending out the emergency alert: There was no way Tim would be able to talk while barely able to breathe in the first place. Suddenly, Tim balled his hands into fists and covered his eyes, the bright neon lighting in the club suddenly too much for him. Barbara was yelling into the microphone, asking repeatedly what the problem was. 

“Sca…” Tim paused, pressing his fists into his eyes in an attempt to hide himself from the oncoming hallucinations. “F-Fear.. Fear toxin.” He stumbled over his words, feeling a sense dread settle over him. 

“Alright, hang on Tim, you’ll be fine. I swear to god, it wasn’t filed that Crane has escaped! I’m alerting the Police department, okay?” Barbara didn’t wait for an answer, her voice eventually crackling out.

Someone had placed their hand on his shoulder. Tim felt a cold chill run down his spine, removing his fists from his eyes, whipping his head around to look for whoever had touched his back. Was that… ? It couldn’t be…

“Kon?” Tim whispered, staring up at the other boy in shock. Superboy had died. Tim had bent over his lifeless body, and he’d cried for an hour and a half.. They’d had to take Conner’s lifeless body away from him. How was he here? How was he alive?

All of it made sense when black, thick blood began pouring from the half Kryptonian mouth and spilling onto Tim’s cape. Conner’s lips turned upwards into the smile he’d always worn when they had been best friends.. When he had been alive. Tim jumped back in horror, shrieking weakly and stepping back into a larger body.

“I-I’m sorry, sir, I didn't mean to bump into y.. You.” Tim’s remark fell to silence as he realized it was his adoptive father. “Bruce! I knew you were alive!” 

Bruce fixated his stare on Tim, his blue eyes rolling back into his head and turning as black as the sky outside the strip club. “I’m disappointed, Tim.” His deep voice was laced with a slightly angry tone of voice, his eyes scrutinizing the former Robin.

“No… No..” Tim trailed off, his eyes widening in terror. Tears filled his eyes, sobs beginning to disrupt his breath.

“I hate you.” Were the three, harmful words spoken in a rich, accented voice from behind him. “And I’ll never feel the same way.” The words from the clone’s mouth devastated Tim. 

The feelings Tim had kept to himself for years were something he’d always denied, always ignoring the butterflies in his chest when he saw the other teen. Tim’s crush started way back in the Young Justice days. Although Conner had trouble trusting him because of Tim’s secretive personality, they had eventually become the closest friends during their run with Teen Titans. The technically younger boy had been almost always fun to be around, but he knew when to be serious and when to follow orders. Even though Conner annoyed him sometimes Tim recognized that it was all in good fun. But was he just having fun? What if he actually just hated Tim?

Tim had crouched down on the floor, near the dark corner of the room, telling himself repeatedly that it was the toxin. Kon was dead. Conner wouldn’t be here, he couldn’t be, it had to be the effects of the fear toxin. Bruce was still missing… dead. Tim mumbled anything to convince himself that he wasn't a disappointment, a failure to his now dead adoptive father. To his dead best friend. His dead father, mother, stepmother… It was all Tim’s fault. All of it.

The teenager looked up only when he heard the piercing sound of sirens blaring towards the clubbing district. Tim was slumped against the wall, looking up towards his hallucinations of Conner and Bruce. He’d known that this was his greatest fear: Disappointing those he cared about the most. Showing he wasn't enough, that he was as important as any average civilian in Gotham city. Tim’s biggest fear was being inadequate, not being good enough. Tim gazed at his mental projection of Kon-el, his eyebrows furrowed as his consciousness began to fade slightly.

“Shit.. It doesn't look like Red Robin is doing well..” Tim heard from a police officer entering the club. “You alright, kid?” 

The blue eyed teenager chuckled slightly, shaking his head slowly before blacking out, his body curled up in the corner of the room.

*

Tim slowly came to, struggling to open his heavy eyelids. After about a minute of attempting he looked around and assessed that he was laid in his own bed at the Wayne Manor. The blue eyed teen sat himself up. A throbbing headache overwhelmed him with sudden pain, causing him to shout out in agony.

“Master Grayson, Master Tim is now awake.” Alfred shouted down the stairs, but only after peeking his head in and glancing at a very, very confused and delirious Tim Drake. 

“I’ll be right up!” He could hear the muffled voice of Dick below, making his way up the stairs.

When Dick walked into his room, Tim looked up in complete confusion. “What the hell happened?” He demanded, even though his voice’s volume was low, and slightly slurred from drowsiness.

“Well, good afternoon, Tim.” Dick beamed, walking over to drag a chair near Tim’s bed.

“Don’t live up to your name, asshole.” The younger deadpanned, glaring at his adoptive older brother.

“Alright, alright. You wound me, Tim, I’m just trying to lighten the mood here.” The acrobat commented, smiling slightly. Dick straddled the chair, looking concerned as Tim winced suddenly.

When Tim just continued to stare at him blankly, Dick went ahead and explained what had happened; At least all of the facts that Barbara and witnesses from the club could tell him. Apparently, after the police had shown up, he had started screaming in his sleep, something about someone named Conner. After giving that piece of information, you bet your ass Dick gave Tim the Concerned-Older-Brother™ look. Dick was the only person that knew about Tim’s long standing crush on Kon. In fact, Dick had been the first and only person he had come out to, and Dick understood and had always supported him in his choices. Tim was going to tell Bruce, but then.. He shuddered involuntarily.

Tim listened to the rest the best that he possibly could, keeping one hand on his head in an attempt to suppress his pounding headache. The bottom line of Dick’s information was that they hadn’t captured or heard anything about Jonathan Crane since the night before. 

“You’re lucky you survived, Tim. You inhaled enough Fear Toxin to be considered a concentrated dose. On top of that, it turns out you’re allergic a hell to it.” Dick paused for a moment to consider, “Which is why I’m sending you to Smallville.”

“What?” Tim snapped, his head whipping up to stare at Dick. The younger groaned lowly as his head pulsated suddenly, screwing his eyes shut.

“Starting tonight you’ll be staying in Smallville with one of my friends from high school, just for a while.” Dick explained, obviously trying to reason with him. “At least until Scarecrow is back in Arkham Asylum.”

Tim paused for a long moment, spacing out. He didn’t want to die: With the risk of getting captured and injected with a dose of Fear toxin, his survival rates would be horribly low. “That’s fine, I guess. You have a good reason, at least.” He commented, smirking slightly.

“Oh, shut up, Mr. Sarcastic.” Dick smiled in return, raising from his seat in Tim’s desk chair and pushing it back into its place. “You want some pancakes?”

Tim nodded, throwing his sheets away and sighed after realizing he was still wearing his jumpsuit. “I’ll be right down.”

“Alright baby bro.” Dick almost sang, closing the door behind him as he left the room. 

The teen stumbled out of his bed, lifting his hand to the wall for support as he tried to catch his balance. He was slightly dizzy from the effects of the Fear toxin, as Dick had told him he would be, and stood in silence until it wore down enough for him to walk over and lock his door. Once he did, he walked over to his wardrobe, fetching his lounge clothes.

After slipping on some lounge pants he moved to the door, not even bothering to look at his reflection as he passed. Tim made his way down the stairs slowly. The stairs led directly to the large eating area, which was directly connected to both the kitchen and living room space. All of his siblings were sitting around, eating Alfred’s pancakes in various places around the room. The teen crossed his hands over his chest, walking into the kitchen. 

“Morning Tim!” Steph greeted him from her spot next to Cass on the couch. 

“Are you feeling alright, Tim?” Cassandra raised an eyebrow, showing her form of concern.

“Yeah. Still a bit dizzy though. Honestly, I just really want Alfred’s pancakes…” Tim said honestly, earning a laugh from both girls. He could hear Jason hollering loudly in agreement from his place at the table, his mouth full of pancakes. Barbara was in her wheelchair next to him, and rolled her eyes. She was smiling, anyway.

The teen made his way into the kitchen, sparing only a glance at Damian before grabbing his own plate of pancakes from the counter. “Thanks Alfred.” 

Alfred nodded in response, smiling slightly. Tim looked up to see that Damian had moved away to go and sit with the first Robin. He rolled his eyes slightly, smirking to himself. Tim moved into the large living area to sit with Jason and the girls, his feet barely making any noise on the marble tile floor. 

After spending a bit of time hanging out with his siblings, Tim made his way back up the stairs to begin packing for his flight to Kansas. He paused, considering for a moment.

“What would a public school kid wear..” The 17 year old stood in silence for a moment, deciding to not pack any suits and pack only his lounge clothing, pajamas, and civvies. As he was looking through his extremely organized closet for one more shirt, Tim paused before something caught his eye. 

“Oh.” Tim let escape his mouth, reaching slowly for the shirt Conner had let him keep so long ago. He quietly stood there with it in his hands, staring down at the black shirt. The teen immediately put it in the suitcase, closing and zipping it up.

*

The air in the Metropolis International Airport was stale and only slightly warmer than the outside. Either way, Tim was still wearing the horribly oversized red hoodie Jason had given him, joking that since they were the only two in Gotham with a red theme, he might as well deck himself out in red at all times. Tim smiled to himself slightly, remembering his older brothers, who were both attempting to get on top of the situation in their city.

Shortly after Tim had left the city, Scarecrow had expanded the area of the city he was filtering the gas into. Over the course of time since his plane lifted off, every hour Jonathan Crane had been pumping toxin into larger and larger areas: By the time Tim Drake touched down in Metropolis, almost half of the city was in mass hysterics. Dick assumed that he’d made a new formula that caused more panic than fear, removing people’s self control almost completely. The Gotham police department had begun a voluntary evacuation of citizens and administering gas masks to those citizens that refused to evacuate. New stations all over the country were reporting the widespread panic of the situation, and about how the Batman and his allies were working hard to resolve the situation and bring peace back to the major city.

If the situation wasn’t under control from just the efforts of Dick, Jason, Damian, and surprisingly a few criminals, like Selina Kyle, their last resort would be calling on the entire League to help get the upper hand. 

Standing near the baggage collection, Tim pulled out his phone from the large front pocket in his hoodie, eyebrows furrowing when he saw that it was Dick calling. Dick was, of course, saved on Tim’s phone as “Dickhole”.

“Dick?” Tim’s voice clearly conveyed his confusion. There wasn’t really any reason for the older man to be calling him. Tim’s plane had been delayed and when they’d touched down, it was late into the night. Tim looked around the walls, searching for a clock, when his vision suddenly became blurry, to the point that he couldn’t see two feet in front of him. 

“What’s up, Timbo?” The man asked, not able to notice the slight state of panic Tim was in from over the line.

“I.. I can barely see?” Tim squeaked, his legs locking up, looking around frantically in confusion. 

“Oh, uh, about that. Apparently you got some of the toxin in your eyes, so you’ll need glasses for a while. There should be a pair in your suitcase..” The older trailed off, hearing Tim scoff.

“Dick, I can’t see which is my suitcase.” Tim said.

“Oh, yeah. Right. I’ll shoot Rose a text and let her know you’ll need help.” Dick offered, “Your vision will be fine in about two weeks, but Barb went ahead and got a pair for you.”

“Tell her I say thanks.” Tim offered, staring blankly at the conveyor belt, vaguely able to see blurry suitcases.

“Will do bro. Shoot me a text when you get to Rose’s, alright?” 

“Yeah, yeah. Bye Dick.”

“Good luck Tim.” He hung up.

*

After a few minutes standing around, Tim heard a clear female voice from behind him: “Are you Dick’s brother?” 

Tim nodded, looking over slightly to hear the woman speaking better. “Are you Rose? I’m sorry, my vision’s blurry..”

“He told me you had an allergic reaction to the.. Fear toxin in Gotham. You lost your clear vision right?” The woman, Rose, he corrected himself, sounded concerned. “It’s been all over the news recently. I’m shocked it reached you, especially since you’re a Wayne. Did it reach up town that quickly?”

“One of the first areas. I’m surprised that none of my brothers were affected before me..” Tim didn’t pause before lying through his teeth, trying to sound as genuine as possible.

“What luggage is yours, Tim?” The younger could hear Rose’s heels on the floor determining that she was next to him.

“Plastic material. It's red.” Another gift from Jason. Honestly, more than half of his belongings were red due to his more violent older brother. 

They stood in silence for only a moment before he could see Rose picking up his luggage from the conveyor belt, her heels clicking, as she turned to face Tim. “You carry the luggage, I’ll lead you. You can get your glasses when we get to my car.” Rose insisted, leading him through the airport. 

Tim wandered behind her, carefully avoiding stepping on Rose or bumping into anyone. After a few minutes of traversing the crowded airport, they finally reached the outside. The weather in Kansas was no better than the cold weather of Gotham, even though the people of Metropolis seemed less used to the weather. Tim could feel the fluorescent lights outside the airport almost burning him with their brightness, although he could only see a blur of the harsh white light.

Rose led him to the concrete parking lot, up an elevator, and to her car. Tim had been delirious the entire experience, jumping at the slightest noise: Which always caused Rose to chuckle at the younger. The parking lot was very busy at night, although it was nearing midnight in the large city. Even though he could barely see in the darkness, Tim could feel the steam coming from his mouth as he breathed, clenching his hands around the edges of his sleeves. Rose opened the back door, placed Tim’s luggage down, and paused, allowing Tim to receive his glasses. Tim pulled out a pair of thin rimmed cobalt blue glasses, sighing slightly at the color before slipping them on.

“Go on and hop in, we’ll leave in a second.” Rose offered, smiling at Tim slightly. She circled her way back and closed the back hatch.

By the time she’d reached the driver’s seat Tim was seated in the passenger seat. “How long is the drive?” The younger asked, attempting to gauge whether or not to take a nap.

“About an hour. We’ll be there in no time.” Tim, without looking away from the window, could hear the wild grin in her voice. 

The car pulled out quickly all but throwing Tim into the back seat. “Sorry! I’m not very good at driving, huh?” Rose chuckled. She was a complete speed demon, exiting the parking lot and, from the sound of swerving tires, Tim figured she’d almost wrecked at least two times in 3 minutes.

As they hit the Metropolis highway, it was obvious that there was heavy traffic going on that would at the very least add 30 minutes to Rose’s drive to her home in Smallville. The silence in the car allowed Tim to hear the noises of the city: The busy traffic, muted music from the city’s nightlife scene, and the honking of horns. After a short while, the brown eyed woman took the silence as an opening to talk to Tim about Smallville. It wasn’t even 10 minutes before Tim drifted off to sleep, slouching in his seat.

“Anyway, I’m sure you’ll love Smallville high school. If you end up having to stay past winter break, of course.. The youngest Kent boy, great friends of mine, by the way, such a sweet family!” Rose rambled on, not glancing over at the slumbering Tim, “He’s named Conner, I believe? Nice kid. He’s just come back from some vacation or other, I saw him a few days ago..”

*

Sun poured through the slatted windows into the small country house, shining onto Tim’s face. The 17 year old stretched, glancing around the small room. It seemed to be in the attic of the house, from what he could see with his blurry vision, with a sparse amount of furniture and a bit of clutter in the form of old cardboard boxes. Some of the things that he could see from his position sat up on the bed looked to be quite old: Black and white photos in wooden frames, dated clothing, and a box full almost entirely with flannel shirts. The situation was strange, because he didn’t remember getting to Rose’s house last night. Tim knew that he would remember waking up to get inside of the house. 

Tim swung his legs over the bed, squinting at the sunny window and shielding his eyes from the bright morning light. It couldn’t be later than 9 in the morning, which was unusual for him. The teen usually ended up awake around 7 am. 

The blue eyed teen stood up, wandering around the room. Tim didn't want to snoop in Rose’s personal items, but he figured whatever was left in the open was free for him to view. Collecting information and keeping tabs was one of the 17 year old’s favorite things to do, and he loved collecting information, even if it was no use to him. He grabbed his new, bright blue glass and carefully put them on, glancing around the room to take in the details. The bed Tim had slept in was covered in an intricate red quilt, the kind that nice old ladies made when they had nothing better to do, and the sheets underneath were a contrasting blue color. 

After hanging around in the room and fixing up his appearance a bit, Tim had made the decision to make his way downstairs. 

You can imagine his surprise when a medium sized white dog bounded up to him, sniffing him and barking in excitement. A minute or so later, the dog was still jumping on him, seeming excited to see him, like he recognized him. It took Tim a second to register who the dog was before he kneeled down and started scratching the dog’s head, grinning in happiness. Tim paused for a moment, realizing… Why was Krypto…?

“Krypto, stop! Don’t attack..” Tim heard from the hallway, freezing immediately. No.. It couldn’t be him.. There’s no way that he was…

“Oh, my god..” Tim stammered out, almost trembling. The 17 year old turned his head to look from where he was kneeling on the floor, next to the white dog, making eye contact with the other teen.

It was Conner.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conner isn't sure who Tim is. And, honestly, neither is Tim.
> 
> The situation in Gotham escalates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be updating every Wednesday and Saturday, as frequently I can manage.
> 
> This chapter is huge compared to the last one! Take it as a thank you to all the response I've been getting.

Tim couldn’t believe his eyes, and, yet, there he was. His best friend, his longtime crush, whom he had seen lay dead in sand two years back, who’d not had a pulse. What the hell was Conner doing alive? And, more importantly, how the hell was he alive? Not that he minded seeing the piercing alien blue of the clone’s eyes, of course. The smaller teen watched in silent shock as Conner walked passed him, sparing him only a glance as he walked barefoot over the wooden floor, looking at home in comfortable clothing.

“You alright man?” The clone offered, quirking an eyebrow at Tim, looking at him questionably. Conner fixed his glasses, a disguise that tricked anyone that didn’t know him. Honestly, secret identities had always been kind of silly to Tim. He could tell immediately who was who when he first met Clark Kent, Ted Kord, and several other Justice League members out of costume, which was a big deal according to many people. Staring at Conner as he mindlessly made a sandwich for his breakfast, occasionally glancing at Tim, who was still petting Krypto.

At this point, Tim would never have expected Conner to come back: Tim’s relationships would always be like a house of cards that he kept building only to have them knocked down and replaced through his whole life. But never with the old cards. Those were usually gone forever, never to be stacked again.

Tim wanted nothing more than to throw himself at the taller, grasp his stupid loose grey shirt, and.. Uh.. Express how absolutely overjoyed he was to see him. Bruce’s long standing rules still stood, even if his adoptive father was lost in time. Tim would have to control himself, at least until he got back to Gotham and could wear the cowl. Then he would be able to tell him about the stupid crush he’d had for much longer than medically advised. Tim had spaced out, staring at Conner, not even realizing that he had walked over after finishing his sandwich.

Conner reached out a hand to offer Tim up, which Tim apprehensively accepted. They lingered there, their hands still clasped in between them. Tim looked up and sighed in exasperation after realizing that Conner had, somehow, come back taller, and now almost towered over him. Then again, they weren’t 15 anymore. Conner raised an eyebrow at the sigh, but it was soon dismissed. 

The citizen of Gotham jumped slightly as he heard a loud unexpected thump coming from outside. 

“Stay here.” Conner almost demanded, dropping Tim’s hand and moving towards the door. Oh. Kon didn’t know who he was, did he? Tim stood silently behind him. 

Conner opened the screen door slowly, wincing at the loud creak it made, glancing around cautiously before spotting Rose. “Seriously? Nothing interesting?” The clone mumbled to himself, moving towards her. Tim laughed quietly.

“What is it Conner?” Tim asked, unable to catch himself saying the boy's name. It took only a second to realize his mistake afterwards. Conner turned around suspiciously, eyeing Tim.

“How do you know my na-” 

“Boys! I’m so glad you came out to help me.” Rose exclaimed wildly, throwing her arms in the air in exasperation, almost whacking Conner in the well-defined jaw. “I drove my car right into this tree, Conner. You’re a strong 17 year old boy, you can definitely help me push the car out.”

“Ms. Weisman, I’m not sure if that's a good idea,” Conner reasoned, making the face he used to pull when he was making excuses, glancing at the tree behind her. Tim could barely see over Conner’s shoulder, and moved over slightly to look at what damage the older woman had managed. The shorter could see the smoke over Conner’s shoulder, but he hadn’t seen the actual damage. The front bumper was practically at a 90 degree angle, but the insides of the car should have been fixable, if they could get the car closer to the house. 

“Don’t think you are getting out of this, Tim Drake, you’re going to help Conner move the car. Dick’s mentioned that you do martial arts.” Rose almost nagged him, almost beginning to mother him. Tim rolled his eyes slightly, moving past the taller teen to make their way to the wrecked car.

The two walked in silence, Tim leading the way so that he could get a good look at the Kent farm. He’d never actually made it out here to Smallville to visit Conner, and it wasn’t as bad as he had made it out to be. The sky was a clear blue with not a cloud in the sky. The sun was a harsh light on the back of the unusually pale boy’s neck: Tim didn’t get a lot of sun due to living his whole life in Gotham. Tim looked over to see a large wheat field, and realized that Krypto must have slipped passed the two teens as they opened the door and was now chasing a squirrel outside. He laughed quietly, realizing Krypto was flying in an attempt to get the bushy tailed creature out of it’s tree. Tim glanced behind him as he heard Kon clear his throat.

“Martial arts, huh? Where are you from, anyway?” Conner spoke up from behind him, moving up next to him by the end of his second question. The clone really was taller than him now. Tim had stayed around five foot five, but Conner had shot up to at very least five foot ten. So much for being able to intimidate him, Tim thought woefully.

“Yeah, mixed martial arts,” Tim replied, glancing slightly upwards in Conner’s direction, “I’m from Gotham City.”

Conner almost stopped his walking, watching Tim with wide eyes. The taller coughed to cover his sudden silence, still keeping his eyes on Tim. “.. You ever seen Batman?” He asked, innocently enough. It would have seemed more casual if Tim didn’t know him that well.

“A few times, yeah.” Tim paused, deciding to throw him a bone towards his identity, “I’ve seen Red Robin more than anyone else.”

“R.. Really? You’ve seen him?” Conner coughed as a save for odd behavior again, looking over at Tim with suspicion and squinting. “You seem really familiar, Tim Drake.”

Tim smiled slightly, moving ahead of Conner again and moving around to the other side of the slightly bent hood. The clone boy positioned his hands on the hood of the car, counting to three before the two of them both pushed at the car. It was only after they had both slipped in the wet morning grass that they realized they both had no shoes or socks on. Tim let out a bit of sporadic laughter while sitting up in the wet grass, glancing at the other teen and smiling.

Conner had felt a pang of something, some feeling, and was suddenly staring at Tim with determination. Conner opened his mouth to say something to the other, only before being interrupted by Rose staring her car, deciding to back up and see if it made any difference. 

Which it did, of course, and Rose’s car was unstuck with no engine problems; The only notable issue was the obvious bender issue. Tim and Conner were both staring at the older woman in disbelief. They both had the same thought: Why hadn’t she done this before she told them to make an attempt to push the car free from the tree?

“Can’t believe I didn’t think of doing that before.” Rose was smiling slightly after rolling down the window. “Come on you two, I’ll go buy you boys ice creams as a treat, for trying to help. That alright?”

Bruce would probably would have been pissed if he knew he’d had a milkshake.

Tim smirked.

*

Not more than 10 minutes later they had made it to the local diner and were back on their way to the farm. Tim looked out his side window in the rusty old Camaro, Conner having given Tim the shotgun seat. Tim glanced at the mirror, making fleeting eye contact with the meta teen. Conner had been.. Watching him? Tim smiled slightly, looking over towards Rose.

Before Tim could say anything, Rose had taken a sharp left off of the course back to the Kent farm, down a separate country road leading to a much smaller country home.

“Why are we swinging by your house?” Conner asked apprehensively from his seat in the back, raising an eyebrow. Tim glanced back at him again, almost laughing when he saw the other. Conner looked uncomfortable in the back seat, having chosen to sit pressed on the left side door. The small Camaro had not been built for broad shouldered half Kryptonians.

“Oh, I didn’t tell you guys, did I?”

“Rose, if this is as bad as the time you drove through your garage two summers ago, I’m not fixing anything..” 

“No, Conner. It’s worse than that.”

Tim could hear Kon whine from the back seat. Sounded like Conner was the one she called to fix all her house issues. Before the crisis, he’d mentioned that his neighbors enlisted his help: Mostly older people who had asked a young Clark Kent for help around their houses, back before the Superman days.

“Tim, I’m sorry about this, but we’ll have to stay with the Kents for a bit. When I left for the airport, I left my laptop charged on a pillow, and..” Rose paused, pulling into the driveway of a partly charred house. It was pretty good size, for a country home. Although Tim had grown up in a large house in the city (Thanks in part to his father’s company), and the sheer size of the manor would always overwhelm him. Seeing smaller homes had always made him more comfortable.

“Did you tell Aunt Martha you’ll be staying with us?” Kon asked, his eyes widening in the way they always did when he was overwhelmed.

“Oh.. Uh, I’ll tell her when we get back, how about that?” Rose responded, sounding hopeful.

Cue another dejected moan from the back seat.

“I need to get my stuff, you two just wait for a second.” Rose stated, closing the door behind her and moving towards the house. 

This, of course, left Tim and the unknowing object of his affections alone in the car together. 

“So, uh..” Conner started, leaning forward towards Tim to give him full attention. That was always something Tim loved about him: If he was interested in talking to you, he’d turn towards you.

“Hi.” Tim blurted quietly, smiling simply at Conner. Tim removed his glasses and cleaned them. Conner drew a sharp breath once he noticed the icy grey-blue of Tim’s eyes, looking away when Tim glanced at him curiously.

“I know you from somewhere.” Conner said with certainty.

“My adoptive father’s a billionaire, if that helps?” Tim glanced at Conner again, slipping on his glasses. 

“Wait, Tim Wayne?” Conner questioned, voice reaching disbelief. Tim hummed in agreement, not looking away from his now lit phone. He knew that name from somewhere.. 

Rose opened the car door, raising an eyebrow, holding a small cardboard box that she immediately placed in Tim’s lap and didn’t take back. “What are you two talking about in here, looking so intense?”

“Nothing, Ms. Weisman,” Conner stated, shooting Tim a look that told him that they were talking later. Alone.

Tim looked out his window, suddenly nervous.

*

As soon as the trio exited the car Conner moved to stand close to Tim. Tim pointedly avoided his gaze, staring at the floor. At some point during the short car ride the shorter teen had realized that Conner must have heard from Cassie about how much Red Robin had missed him, his depression issues, and his attempts at cloning his best friend. He stole a glance at the taller teen, noticing that his gaze was full of two things: Longing and worry. Tim drew a sharp breath as they made their way into the house, Tim carrying Rose’s box.

Tim passed the box to Rose, pushing up his blue glasses and glancing behind him at Conner. He still looked confused, observing Tim’s every move in an attempt to place him. The citizen of Gotham sighed.

“Oh, Tim Drake! How have you been, dear?” Ma Kent said from her spot at the small kitchen table, smiling at the boy. She paused and made sure Rose was in the attic before continuing, “I’m so glad you’re here, Tim, I was worried after your family told me about everything that you’ve gone through. How are they, by the way?”

Conner stood silently in shock. “Ma! You know him?” Conner exclaimed, looking completely scandalized.

“Of course! His family have been friends of Clark’s for a long time.” Martha smiled, “Now, Tim, you need some food. You want a biscuit?”

“Of course, Ms. Kent.” 

“So polite, you Wayne boys.”

Tim smiled lightly, turning his attention to Conner. “What’s up?” He greeted. At Conner’s apprehensive look, his smile fell. Tim continued, “I’m sorry Conner. It’s just, I..” He turned his attention to the floor, “I can’t tell you.”

“Don’t be sorry man.” Conner lowered his head slightly to meet Tim’s eyes, brushing the hair out of the other boy’s eyes. For some reason, Conner felt like Tim was important to him. Why couldn’t he remember him? 

“You can tell me when you need to.” Conner continued, deciding he wanted to at least attempt to befriend the other.

When the shorter didn’t respond, Conner grabbed the now finished biscuit Aunt Martha had made for Tim. He nodded at her, grabbing Tim’s arm lightly and pulling him towards Conner’s room upstairs. 

As soon as they got to Conner’s room, he closed the door behind him. “If you play Super Smash Brothers Brawl with me, I’ll give you the biscuit.” Conner told him, looking serious. 

Conner’s odd attempt at friendship with him, even though he couldn’t tell who he was, was kind of sweet. And, well, Martha Kent was renowned throughout the hero community for her cooking, and Conner used to rave about it..

“Well, in that case..” Tim said, raising an eyebrow at Conner. He paused a moment, sitting in the desk chair and turning it to face the TV.

*

The days living on the farm quickly turned into a week and a half. Tim was scared to tell Conner his identity, and was scared he would be disappointed if he found out. The two days after his first day there, Tim avoided Conner avidly. Conner realized something was going on and watched him with worry. Every day after dinner the taller teen would simply ask if he was comfortable with telling him. This continued even when Tim had stopped ignoring him, and he didn’t press the issue any more. 

Conner was enjoying Tim’s company, even though he still could not figure out where he knew him from.. Maybe he’d saved him, one time?

Conner quietly watched as Tim read his phone from across the room, smiling to himself when the shorter began mouthing the words he was silently reading. He’d felt some kind of undeniable attraction to the other teen, which was why he was apprehensive to just convince himself he’d rescued Tim once. 

Tim looked up and made eye contact with Conner, quirking an eyebrow. “What, Conner?” He asked, turning his attention back to his phone.

“Nothing. Uh. So, It’s been like a week, and I never got to ask.. Why are you in Smallville?” Conner quickly continued when Tim seemed mildly offended, “No! No, not like that! I love having you here.”

They both flushed bright red, pausing in their conversation. Conner couldn’t have meant it in that way.. Could he? Tim shook his head, “He doesn’t..” He mumbled, and turned his attention back to his phone.

Why wouldn’t Conner like him? Tim sat in silence, setting down his phone. The clone was right there, Tim could tell him, but what did he have to lose? He paused a beat, looking up at Conner to see him watching Tim with those worried eyes. Tim knew what he could lose. One of the only people outside of his family that truly cared about him. If Conner didn’t accept his feelings, his greatest friendship would be wrecked. It would be smarter to not even think about it..

There was a silence for a few minutes before the half Kryptonian turned on the TV, scoffing as he noticed it was on the news channel Martha loved. It was playing the late night news, seeing as it was after dinner. He was going to change the channel until he realized there was a “Breaking News” banner across the screen in bright red. It was a live report from Gotham, showing a panicked street fleeing a group of Scarecrow’s thugs. 

The woman reporting was Vicki Vale, who Conner recognized from the other reports from Gotham about the Scarecrow panic. Robin had mentioned her trying to get information on his family’s identifies several times, and the general consensus from Gotham heroes was that she was a nuisance. She seemed to be stationed on a rooftop, safe from the chaos going on in the streets and buildings below her. 

Tim glanced at the TV, watching with vague disinterest. 

“There’s been no sign of Batman or his colleagues since yesterday, when the frequent kidnappings started.” Vicki reported raising an eyebrow inquisitively, “Where could the Bats be? Are they in trouble?” 

Tim stared at the television, frozen in shock.

Vicki Vale seemed to pause for a moment, looking just passed the camera. “The thugs are coming? Up here?” She questioned in disbelief, looking back at the camera. In the background noise you could hear a metal door swing open and hear people screaming on the rooftop: Vicki’s crew, likely.

Vicki looked panicked, holding the microphone closer to her mouth, yelling into the microphone: “Anyone that can, please! Help Gotham! Justice League, Teen Tit-”

The audio and visuals cut out, leaving only a black screen with the news format overlay on the Kent family’s old TV.

“Jesus Christ..” Tim whispered, staring at the TV in disbelief and standing up. He stared at Conner. “We have to go. We’ve got to help, Conner.”

Conner looked away from the TV still shocked by what he’d seen, and was even more shocked by what he saw next. Tim was standing from where he was on the couch, hand gripping his phone. The shorter teenager looked terrified and angry, shaking where he stood. Tim was, from what he’d seen in the last week or so, a very collected person. Seeing him so scared and angry was.. 

“Tim, you can’t, you know you can’t go to Gotham. You’ll be hurt by the toxi-”

“The hell I can’t go, and I doubt I’ll get hurt, Conner! You don’t understand. I can’t.. I can’t tell you why. Not yet, anyways, but we have to go. Conner, we’ve got to fly to Gotham right now!”

“All flights to Gotham were cancelled two days ago, Tim, you know that!”

“Not all of them.”

Their shouting match came to a quick stop after Tim’s statement, Conner staring at Tim in disbelief. It wasn’t even a minute before Tim grabbed one of Conner’s sweatshirt sleeves, dragging him upstairs to the attic where Tim had been sleeping. The taller continuing to watch Tim with wide eyes as he paced around the room.

“Do you have a private jet or.. Did you just imply what I think you did?” Conner asked simply, voice cracking slightly towards the end of his sentence. 

“I’ll explain. I swear to god, I’ll tell you who I am. Just get us to Gotham.” Tim stated, slipping into his I’m-the-leader-listen-to-me voice and staring up at Conner.

“It’ll be about 20 minutes, man. Besides the point, you’ll have to deal with me for that long.”

“I know.” Tim stated, grabbing his red hoodie. He hadn’t packed his Red Robin uniform: He hadn’t assumed he would need it, but Tim had brought one of his backup domino masks. Tim stuffed the mask into the pocket of the jacket, slipping the large red hoodie on and glancing at Conner. “We leaving?”

Conner had been standing in place, watching Tim as he grabbed his jacket. If Tim’s shirt had ridden up slightly as he put on the hoodie, Conner had nothing to say about it. At Tim’s inquiry, the clone snapped out of it, nodding. “Just give me a second.”

Tim coughed slightly as Conner removed his shirt and glasses, but not keeping himself from staring at the other’s bare chest. “Do you always just wear it inside out?” He asked quietly, tearing his eyes away from Kon’s torso.

Once Conner had gotten his shirt back on he had responded with a helpless shrug. He noticed Tim’s face was a bright red, smiling. He’d subtlety flirted with Tim over the past week: Conner couldn’t help it. Tim had just felt important to him. He was also been really.. Pretty. There was no other way to describe him. If only the shorter’s hair wasn’t always in his face. Conner had mindlessly moved the hair from Tim’s face more than once, which always earned a blush from the other.

“How do we..”

“Leave without being noticed? Ms. Weisman is out, right? I’ll just tell Ma we’re leaving.”

Tim followed absently behind Conner as he knocked on the door of Martha’s sewing room, entering the room as she told them the door was unlocked. They must have looked as worried as they felt, because Martha stood up immediately. Tim was standing close behind Conner, lost in thought. 

“The issue in Gotham’s kinda.. Come to it’s peak, I guess. I’m going to help out, and I’m taking Tim. Even though he’ll get hurt.”

Martha looked confused for a moment, pausing and shaking her head. “You still have no idea who he is, do you?” She commented lightly, smiling to herself as she sat down again, “You can go. Just make sure neither of you get too hurt. I’m sure Clark’s already there.”

Conner nodded, turning around and bumping into a still unfocused Tim. “You alright Tim?” He asked, raising his hands to rest on Tim’s shoulders. 

Tim focused again, looking slightly panicked by Conner touching his shoulders.

“Buddy, if you’re gonna have an issue with me grabbing your shoulders, you’re gonna have a big issue with me carrying you.” Conner removed his hands and walked passed the almost silent Tim, nodding towards the stairs, “C’mon, we’ve gotta hurry if I want to be on time. Wonder Girl’s going to yell at me either way, though.”

*

It wasn’t even a few minutes after telling Martha that Conner led Tim to one of the Kent farm’s wheat fields. Light pollution and the fog that blanketed Gotham usually obstructed his view of the galaxy, but out here in Smallville Tim could see millions of stars. It almost took his breath away. 

Conner smiled as he watched Tim’s reaction to the night sky. He pulled out his phone to check the time, surprised to see that it was already nearing 10 PM.

“Tim, we’ve got to go.”

Tim paused for a moment before looking back at Conner. “Alright,” He mumbled, walking closer to Conner. The shorter paused for a moment. “How are we going to do this?” 

They were both quiet for a moment before Conner slipped his arms behind Tim’s back and underneath his legs. As far as Tim knew, Conner never carried anyone bridal style when flying. Whenever he would have to carry Tim when they were members of Young Justice and even the Titans, he’d always opted to just grab him by whatever limb was closest and off they’d go. The clone would always have a hold on him with his TTK and grip whatever limb he’d grabbed tight enough to bruise. 

Tim adjusted himself, looping his left arm around Conner’s neck.

It wasn’t a few seconds before Tim could feel Conner’s telekinesis wrap around him for extra support during flight. He wasn’t sure what to do with his head, but he had figured that Conner didn’t know it was Robin. Tim must be allowed to flirt a little bit, if he doesn’t know his identity, right? 

Just as Tim tucked his head underneath Conner’s, the taller asked a question: “You ready?”

Tim responded with a simple nod, the arm he’d slung around the other’s neck tightening slightly. It had been.. Well, long before Conner had died since he’d been carried by someone capable of flight. 

It was so different from grappling around the rooftops of the dark city he called home. Grappling was a bit like swinging. You’d be weightless, free falling, for just a moment and then safe on the ground. The closest comparison would be a helicopter; Even then, comparing anything to the feeling of almost complete weightlessness seemed silly.

“You’re surprisingly calm.. Something tells me this isn’t your first time flying, huh?”

Tim just smiled.

*

Surprisingly, a 20 minute conversation about favorite Pokemon types made for a relatively smooth flight to Gotham. The only time Tim was put in any kind of danger was when he explained how, during his play through of Pokemon X, he accidentally received a Sylveon and proceeded to play and complete his game with it. Conner burst out laughing and almost dropped the smaller teen when Tim told him his youngest brother named the Eevee “Garbage” without Tim’s permission. 

The conversation had turned serious when Conner had received a text from both Bart and Cassie about the situation in Gotham. The Teen Titans had been helping evacuate those civilians left in the city, and the JLA were going after Scarecrow in Batman and the rest of the Batman clan’s absence. As soon as he received the text he read it out to Tim, knowing that he’d want to hear it. Hearing this made Tim visually anxious.

“You sure you want to go, Tim? You look nervous..” Conner asked, holding Tim closer to him in an attempt at comfort.

Tim nodded into Conner’s chest, sighing before responding, “I’m just worried about how the Justice League are approaching the situation. Scarecrow always knows what he’s doing, Conner, and he’ll be prepared for them.”

Conner was quiet for a moment and then looked down at Tim. “You have any ideas, Tim?” He inquired.

“There isn’t a lot you can do at the moment.” The shorter paused to consider before continuing, “As soon as we get there, if you could drop me off at the Manor, that’d be great. I just want to check on my family.”

Conner nodded apprehensively.

*

Conner dropped off Tim, promising that he’d come by the Wayne manor after the whole ordeal to check on him. It looked almost painful for Conner to leave Tim on the front steps, and Tim felt similarly. He could only hide so much emotion on his face. Snow covered the area in patches, discolored slightly with ash from the city.

“I swear I’ll swing by afterwards. I’ll take you back to Smallville so you can get your suitcase, alright?” Conner promised, making intense eye contact with Tim.

Tim nodded solemnly, sighing. 

“I’ll see you in a bit, Tim?” Conner paused before adding, “If you need me.. Just yell. I’ll hear you.”

“Thank you.” He mumbled, smiling slightly, “Bye Kon.” Tim finished, no longer stopping himself from using the nickname.

Tim turned on his heel and entered the building before he could see Conner’s confusion, closing the door behind him. He paused when he saw the state of disarray inside the mansion, almost sprinting upstairs to his room. The nice paintings were on the floor, anything looking valuable had been taken from his home. Tim traced a hand over a scratch in the wall near the door of his room, opening it to find his room completely untouched. 

The crime fighter didn’t waste any time before grabbing his uniform, opting for the more lightweight version based off his original designs for a costume. He grabbed the domino mask he’d brought with him, which extended from the outter most parts to reach his jaw. He stripped quickly, throwing his clothes onto his bed. He removed his glasses, luckily finding that Barbara had left some contacts in his prescription on his bathroom counter. Tim quickly slipped the outfit on, sticking his mask on his face with his old adhesive, and running a hand through his hair in the mirror.

Tim made his way downstairs to retrieve his retractable bo staff and grapple in the bat cave. There were many entrances to the cave from inside the manor. But, while most everyone in the family chose the original sliding poles, Tim loved the elevator in the library. It was really small and uncomfortable, but there was an age old running joke between him and the two older Robins.

Back before Bruce had.. Disappeared, he had opted to keep it set to classical versions of rock songs. Which Tim didn’t mind, and appreciated to some length. But, Dick and Jason would always change it to something obnoxious, just to piss Tim off. Dick had been the most frequent suspect, just to see Tim’s expression when he’d exit the elevator into the Batcave. The 17 year old paused, mentally preparing himself before entering the elevator.

Drums and electric guitar pounded through the speakers, Tim’s eyes almost rolling into the back of his head. “He was a boy, and she was a girl, can I make it anymore obvious?” Avril Lavigne sang through the speakers.

“Jesus Christ.” Tim mumbled, making his way out of the elevator as fast as he could. Even though he was young when that song made it’s debut, he’d heard it enough from Dick singing it at any mention of Superboy.

The teen made his way to the small area where he kept his weapons and picked up his collapsible staff and his utility belt. Tim grabbed one of his grappling hooks and made his way to the vehicle exit, opting to not take his cycle or his car so not to alert the thugs in the streets of his presence. He walked down the side of the brightly lit tunnel. It wasn’t a warm light: It was a stark, artificial light that illuminated the pristine driveway that led directly into the city. The only shadow in the concrete tunnel was his own.

Tim debated what his plan should be for a few minutes, ultimately deciding to reunite with the Teen Titans and help them attack Scarecrow. He made his way into the city, finding it completely barren of all life. 

He caught a glimpse of blonde ahead of him at the end of an intersection. “Wonder Girl!” Tim screamed, pulling out his grappling hook to make his way towards his former team member. 

Cassie paused for a moment, turning to look in Tim’s direction. “Oh my god!” She exclaimed, smiling. “Where have you been? Gotham’s been under attack for a week! I thought you were taken with your brothers, or something.. We’ve all been worried.” She landed on the roof he was aiming for. “Especially Conner.” Wonder Girl added as an afterthought, her smile turning into a smirk.

After Tim had.. His issues after Kon’s death, Cassie had been the one to help him admit that what he felt for the then dead clone wasn’t just friendship. 

“I know, I know.” Tim said in reply, combing his fingers through his hair to keep it out of his face. “I’m ready to help, though. I’ve heard the situation from several sources.”

“I’m glad you’ll help.” Wonder Girl paused before continuing, “I’ll go get the boys! Just wait here.”

“Alright, Cassie.” He responded, watching as the other teenager flew away.

Tim sat on the edge of the roof, his feet dangling off the edge. The teen was both nervous and excited to see his old team. How would they react to seeing him? Would Conner recognize him as Tim, the quiet teenage son of Bruce Wayne? He focused on the street below him, unfocused while debating the possibilities. The streets below him were abandoned, most of the citizens locked up in their houses. Tim had read that more than half of the city had been evacuated with the combined efforts of a few from the JLA and the Gotham City police department. He wished he could have helped..

All of those thoughts left his mind as he was yanked back by his cape, constricting his airway. A scratchy cloth was pressed against his face and his eyes rolled back into his head.

Tim Drake was out cold, being dragged away by Jonathan Crane’s thugs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This AU is a big mess of some of my favorite canons. If you're confused at all, or want more information, just message me on my Tumblr. My URL is tombstonestomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim's been taken into the Scarecrow's base.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! Thank you for being patient :)

“Everyone! You won’t believe who I just saw!” Cassie exclaimed, her feet hitting the cold concrete of the the street. Almost every member of the Teen Titans turned to look at her in muted interest. They’d all gathered together to talk about their next plan. Cassie had been a bit later than her teammates, and everyone had been silently waiting for her to return.

“I saw Red Robin!” The blonde explained, catching the attention of everyone who wasn’t interested before. “He was just entering the city in a new costume.. I thought all of the Gotham heroes were kidnapped?”

“Is he coming this way?” Conner immediately asked, before anyone else. Everyone stared at him knowingly. 

The clone had been stopped numerous times from coming to Gotham just to find Red Robin. Since he’d returned, he’d gone to Gotham to search for Rob before even going to Smallville or to the Titans Tower. He’d found that there was both a new Robin and a new Batman, who seemed as shocked to see him as he was to see them. He’d asked them where the old Robin was for 15 minutes before he got his reply: They didn’t know.

Apparently almost right after the old Batman had died, the shorter teen had been uprooted from his position as Robin. He’d been kicked out and was god knows where. Conner had attempted to find Rob in the city for at least 2 hours before making his way to Smallville. Back before he’d died, Conner would listen to Robin’s heartbeat as a kind of comfort; Conner had always found the boy interesting, and after becoming such close friends he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t attracted to him.

The clone found out through the grapevine of teen hero gossip that Red Robin had returned to Gotham, and Conner had to be stopped by almost the entire team from up and leaving right in the middle of a mission.

Conner had checked Gotham for Red Robin just a few hours before Tim and Rose had arrived at his house, finding no trace of him. It was disappointing. 

“Actually, I told him to stay right there so we could go over and talk to him.” Cassie responded, smiling at Conner, “Let’s go!”

The half Kryptonian nodded, jumping into the air and easily flying behind his ex.

Gotham was a mess below him. The streets were full of abandoned cars and abandoned streets. Bags had been dropped to the ground in panic and subsequently rummaged through. There wasn’t anyone in the street: Just about everyone had been evacuated, with the exception of many of Gotham’s police force. The Titans and GCPD had been working together to get everyone that they could out of the city. Now that everyone that could be evacuated was, no one was quite sure what they should do. The Titans were debating moving to attack Scarecrow’s thugs, who were all hiding in various buildings to capture any unsuspecting person.

“He should be right…” Cassie started, pausing and staring at the roof in disbelief, “Rob was right here.”

“Are you sure you didn’t imagine it, or something?”

“I’m sure, Conner. He was just sitting on the roof.” Cassie responded, shooting a look at Conner. She touched down on the roof pausing when she noticed something on the floor. “Oh. Oh no.”

“What is it?” Conner asked, his eyes widening in shock as he noticed what items were littered across the concrete roof.

All of Red Robin’s weapons were dropped haphazardly on the roof, including his grappling hook and utility belt. Conner picked up the items, following them all the way to the roof access stairway. They seemed to be lost in a struggle.

Conner's heart skipped a beat when he noticed the last object tossed onto the first step of the stairway: Red Robin’s mask.

*

Tim bolted upright from where he was laying on a cold metal table, a sputtering cough escaping his lips. It didn’t take long for Tim to realize he was restrained, his hands and feet bound tightly against the table with screwed down thick metal bands. Any attempt to move his ankles or his wrists made them burn, cutting into the skin. The 17 year old rested back on his elbows to avoid further damage to his wrists. 

He was facing the window, the table was turned around away from the door.

He’d been in this kind of situation before: But, the nailed down restraints were something Tim would never be able to get out of without a free hand and a wrench. Tim looked down at himself, eyebrows furrowing as he realized he was dressed in a tightly tied but ill fitting hospital gown. The room was brightly lit, ugly wallpaper and the tile flooring below him gleaming. 

Oh. This was the old Wayne Memorial Hospital, named for his adoptive father’s parents, that was scheduled for demolition later in the month. All furniture had been removed from the building, and Tim assumed they never got around to removing wallpaper and flooring before the Scarecrow fiasco began. This meant that the rest of the Bats had to be here, along with the Justice League and a percentage of the civilian population.. How the hell had they kidnapped all of those people?

Tim spent a good 10 minutes attempting to figure a plan of escape for himself and everyone else. It crushed him when he realized there was no possible way for him to get out of his restraints, and that there was no way to avoid what they would do to him

“Ah, Red Robin..” Came a voice from behind him, “Or, should I say Tim Drake?” 

His mask was removed. Fuck. A bitter taste filled his mouth as he bit down on his tongue.

Tim stayed silent, trying not to respond to anything he told him. 

“I’ve heard from some little birdies that you have an allergy and a violent reaction to my Fear Toxin.” Scarecrow continued. At the mention of his brothers, his breath hitched, turning around to face the Villain with wild eyes. 

“What the hell did you do to them?”

“Nothing much. When one offhandedly mentioned that you had an allergic reaction, I’ve been putting off all further experiments until you arrived. I knew you would.” Crane almost sang, placing a hand on Tim’s shoulder.

“Experiments?” Tim questioned, flinching away from Scarecrow’s hand.

“Tests on which doses are too many, the effects of them, et cetera. I’ve finally got a chance to test all of my new formulas I’ve been working on..” 

Tim’s mouth opened slightly in a mix of emotions, the dominating one being fear. “What are you going to do, Scarecrow?” The teen almost growled, mustering all of his remaining courage.

“You’ll see soon enough. You’ll be with the others shortly.”

Tim shuddered slightly as he felt a cold needle in his shoulder, injecting some kind of cold liquid directly into his bloodstream. The teen felt a chill run over his entire body, shrieking in pain; It felt as though millions of needles were pricking him. 

“Stop! Stop it!” Tim shouted, his voice shrill. “What did you do?” Tim demanded, glaring at Crane.

“Glad to see it’s working then!” The older man set down the needle on the counter, grinning, “It’s a little something I collaborated on with the Joker. He’s more.. Apt at the physical effects of chemicals, and so now the hallucinations now bring a physical sense. No projections over regular people, but independent psychological monsters.”

The man’s voice faded out as Tim shook his head furiously; He screwed his eyes shut in an attempt to stop the oncoming hallucinations from gripping him, tugging him, pinching him. He wasn’t sure if he was even on the metal table anymore, his senses completely overloaded by the violent reaction his body was having to the new toxin.

“Play nice!” Tim could hear yelling from behind him, hearing a metal door slam shut. The teen opened his eyes, ignoring the shadows in the corners of the room that were gradually turning into monsters. He shakily made his way to his feet and heaved a sigh.

Shivering, the blue eyed teen looked around the room. “Jesus Christ.” Tim mumbled upon noticing the large drawers on the walls. He was in the morgue. 

Tim drew his arms around himself, shivering in the almost refrigerated air of the room, his toes almost going into the grate beneath his feet. He’d never been to the morgue: Seeing dead bodies had always squicked him after his Dad’s death. Even when he’d just started as the boy wonder he’d avoided the room in the hospital. Bruce had no qualms with it and let the teen stand outside the room, usually left to entertain the children in the waiting room down the hallway.

“Anyone else in here?” Tim called out, almost running over when he saw Jason limping out of one of the corners. 

“Hey replacement. ‘Sup?” Jason greeted him as though they weren’t being held captive in a morgue. The older former Robin was still in full gear, but his helmet was no where to be found. His green domino mask almost glimmered in the faulty lighting above them.

“You don’t seem very.. Injured, Red Hood.” 

“Well, no. That sick bastard tested only on Robin until baby bird let it crack that you’ve got an allergy.” Jason explained, his arms folding over his chest. “Twisted my ankle, pretty sure. I’m fine.”

“And he just let the rest of you guys off?” Tim quirked an eyebrow.

“Crane split us up. I’ve got no idea where the others are, at any rate..” Jason almost growled in anger, running a hand through his hair. He glanced at Tim, his eyes widening, “Where the fuck’s your cowl, man?” 

“Uh. Not on my face.” Tim mumbled trailing off as he started staring past Jason at what his subconscious somehow made to be an entire pile of dead bodies. They started moving, and Tim continued staring at the pile intensely. Jason waved a hand in front of Tim’s face, looking slightly concerned for his little brother.

“Dude. What did he do to you? You’re like, on cloud nine.” Jason continued waving his hand in Tim’s face until the shorter’s eyes came into focus.

“A new formula. No projections.. Jus’..” Tim paused as his mind’s clone of a bloodied Conner stood up, staring straight at him. Suddenly he was having trouble breathing, “Just visual hallucinations tha’ can cause reactions in my nervous syst-”

“You look like you’re going into shock or something.” Jason interjected, letting out a totally manly shriek as Tim began backing up suddenly. His brother’s eyes had glazed over, widened with horror.

The projection of Conner had flown towards him menacingly, grabbing him roughly. He was slammed against the wall in obvious anger, hard enough to bruise him. Tim gasped for breath as the clone’s fingers pressed into his throat, trying desperately to pull them away. He knew it.. He knew Conner hated him..

Conner disappeared as Tim slumped against the wall, still grasping at his neck in pain. He couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t he breathe?

Jason had watched in horror, unable to help, crouched beside him. “Tim?” He exclaimed.

Tim shook his head furiously, gasping for air. “E-Epi-” He gasped for air repeatedly, grabbing for Jason’s jacket pocket.

Jason was deadly serious as he dug his hand into his jacket pocket, retrieving the yellow Epipen. He didn’t even want to know how Tim knew he carried an Epipen, but he’d ask later anyways. When Tim wasn’t about to die from Anaphylaxis in a morgue. Tim was frantically trying to breathe, his windpipe making shrill wheezing noises instead.

Red Hood jabbed the Epipen into Tim’s thigh, sighing defeatedly as Tim winced when it clicked. After a few seconds he removed it, instructing Tim to rub the spot until it didn’t sting. The younger nodded slightly.

Jason stood and grabbed some of the rope that was laying on the floor: The thugs had thrown Jason in hogtied and gagged. Which didn’t hinder him from making BDSM jokes. The reason he and the rest of the group were here in the first place was because Scarecrow had made a point of kidnapping all of those connected to Batman in one swoop. The only two that hadn’t gone out that morning where the two Batgirls. They were, Jason assumed, still at the Manor watching some shitty television.

The thugs had easily gotten them, pumping a mixture of Fear toxin and a potent sleeping gas into the room they were using as a base. They must have waited for everyone to be out and then taken their bodies to the hospital.. Everyone had woken up nailed down to tables, and Crane had only tortured Damian until he basically put Tim up as an offer. Damian told him that his older brother had a violent reaction to the toxin and it would be better to work on him, and they’d all three been put in separate rooms afterwards.

Tim sat up after a few minutes of trying to rub the injection site, sighing as his airway began to open again. The toxin was still in his system, but he’d caught his allergic reaction early enough that the epinephrine would put off his breathing issues for at least long enough to get to safety. 

Tim looked up at Jason, confused. “What are you going to use those ropes for?”

“They took all my shit. I know the exit to this place, though, just remembered. There’s a grate right over there.” The tall man pointed to the other side of the room, “There’s no grips so I’m goin’ to use the rope.”

Tim nodded in approval, not even attempting to stand up in his dizzy state. Jason got the grate up quickly, revealing a ladder. 

“It goes down into the sewer.” Jason commented in disgust, making a face.

“The things we do to survive.” Tim replied, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

“Shut it, Drake.” Jason glared at Tim, unceremoniously picking up the teen and carrying him over his shoulder. He limped towards the ladder.

Tim rolled his eyes, getting an excellent view of the dirty floor of the sewer below the ladder. He crossed his arms, propping his torso up on Jason’s back to get a better view of the sewers. 

There was almost no lighting in the tunnel, just the ladder with the broken gate leading to it. Another section of the wall had broken down bricks, revealing an alternative entrance to the hospital. The water that he could see was full of dead bodies. Tim could only assume that was his hallucinations starting up again.

“Jason. There may be a ton of floating dead bodies in the sewer.” Tim reported as Jason made his way to the end of the ladder.

Jason turned around to face the water, and Tim could hear the confusion and slight concern in his voice as he responded, “Uh. No, there aren’t any dead bodies. What kind of crazy shit do you hallucinate, anyways?”

It was always kind of weird hearing Jason so concerned, but he’d always been oddly protective of his brothers, even Dick. From what Tim had gathered, his older brother just didn’t want Bruce to have to go through losing a son again. Jason had gone as far to propose Tim work with him when he’d been kicked out, but he’d opted to operate on his own and make his way almost around the entire world to search for proof. He’d only just returned, with apt proof that their Dad was just stuck in time.

Not even Jason had believed him with a point like that.

“Nothing that concerns you, Jason.” Tim said, sighing.

“Ooh, I’m wounded.” Jason rebutted with, turning towards the entrance to the hospital. “Any ideas, Drake? We’ve got no weapons so I’m fresh out of ideas.”

Tim rolled his eyes, “Of course you would ask.” He paused for a moment, “We need to get to the Teen Titans, they’re not far from here. Superboy will have figured out where I am at this point.”

If Jason was going to comment on Tim’s obvious attraction to the clone, he held back. “Should we get above ground?”

“I guess.” Tim responded, sighing. “You can put me down. I think the epinephrine’s helping my respiratory issues.”

Jason lifted Tim off his shoulder, placing him on the concrete ground of the sewer. 

“Whoa! Holy shit, the concrete’s like ice!” Tim exclaimed, jumping on his toes. 

“I wish I had a fucking camera right now, Tim.” Jason laughed, watching Tim freak out with slight interest as he limped passed him.

“Shut the hell up and find a manhole!” The shorter followed behind Jason, slightly more used to the feeling of the ground below him. It had to be snowing outside. Tim had lost track of time after being knocked out for god knows how long.

“Psh.. Manhole.” He sped up slightly, noticing a ladder about 20 paces ahead.

“Oh my god, Jason. You’re like 21 years old.” Tim responded in disbelief.

“So?” Jason retorted, beginning his climb up the ladder to lift the manhole and get to the outside.

Tim coughed slightly, lowering his voice slightly in an almost dead on impression of their father: “No fun allowed, Jason.”

The older burst out laughing, using one arm in an attempt to ease the manhole cover onto the street above. Tim clung to the freezing metal of the ladder, shrieking as the circular hunk of metal dropped below him. He dodged it easily but it had still scared him half to death. The teen reached up and pinched Jason’s ankle.

“Ouch, you little twerp!” Jason hollered, pulling himself up into the street.

His older brother offered him a hand to pull him up, yanking Tim up onto the even colder street. It was snowing lightly over the city, mixed with the ash of burning buildings in the city. It seemed as though Scarecrow had made an exchange with his thugs: If they kidnapped as many people as they could and brought them to the old hospital, they could devastate the city as much as they wanted. He must have been out for at least an hour, which meant it would soon be midnight. The teenager wrapped his arms around himself. It was way too cold for him to be wearing just a flimsy hospital gown. Tim sighed, leading the way to an empty alleyway.

“How are you going to get Loverboy to come this way?” Jason questioned while following Tim into the dark alley. The streets surrounding the hospital where, from what they could see, empty as the rest of the city.

“He said just to yell and he’ll hear me.”

Jason’s eyebrows raised. “You realize that Superman does that for only two peopl-”

“And they’re Dad and.. Lois Lane. I know.” Tim sighed, running a hand through his hair. 

The younger didn’t consult Jason before deciding to move further away from the hospital to yell for Conner, and by extension the Teen Titans. His former team was never exactly subtle in their arrivals, even when he’d been leader. It would be a better idea to be as far from the hospital as they could get, but the teen would only be able to get so far before his airway would constrict again. Tim moved through the back alleyway towards the clubbing area where he’d been just a few weeks ago.. Had it really just been two weeks?

The sky above was black: The fires in the surrounding buildings were illuminating the night instead of the street lights. Snow covered the street sparsely. Personal belongings of citizens littered the floor, only coupons and other unimportant things. All wallets and jewelry seemed to have been stolen by the thugs. It was still snowing lightly over the city, the same amount as it had been when Conner had flown him to the city. 

As he stopped in front of the Neon Angel, glancing behind him at the building. Tim could hear Jason scuffing his shoes on the snow covered ground. 

The teen’s feet had gone numb and so had his hands: He wouldn’t be surprised if he had frostbite from walking in the snow for that long in what was decidedly not snow appropriate clothing. 

“Conner!” Tim cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled into the sky, pausing before yelling again, “Kon!”

Tim felt kind of silly after almost a minute of waiting. Maybe he didn’t mean every time he called for him? The Teen Titans must have been busy working with the police to come up with a working plan. The Justice League were still in the hospital, god knows where. Probably unconscious.. He must be more busy trying to save the League. But, that thought disappeared when Conner landed next to him.

“Tim? You look like you’re freezing!” The clone exclaimed, watching Tim in concern, “How did you get over here, anyways?”

“Long story, clone boy.” Jason chimed in from where he was leaning on the pink wall of Neon Angel. Both teens jumped, making the 21 year old chuckle. At least Jason was entertained.

“What the hell are you doing with Red Hood?” Conner’s voice jumped almost an entire octave. He coughed to clear his throat, looking back at Tim. “Either way, I’m going to take you back to the Teen Titans.” 

“Fine by me. Go on, baby bird.” Jason walked past the pair, slapping Tim on the back. Red Hood jumped onto a ladder off the side of a nearby nightclub, making his way to the roof and disappearing from sight.

The two dark haired teens stood in silence before Tim spoke up, “All hostages are being held in the old hospital, including the Justice League.”

“You’ve got a plan, Tim?”

“One step ahead of you, Superboy.”

Conner’s response was a wide smile. 

Tim smiled in return, throwing his arms around the clone’s neck. Conner quickly took off towards their temporary base.

***

The Teen Titans and the Gotham PD had in fact been using the new Gotham Memorial Hospital as their vantage point. According to Conner, the fact that the new facility ran on a generator and had a heater were the only two points that the teenagers and the GCPD agreed on. Conner didn’t put Tim down as he touched down in front of the hospital and walked inside of the building.

Only once they were safely inside with the door shut behind them did Conner let Tim down on the floor. The building was incredibly warm compared to the outside, and he could soon feel blood return to his fingers and feet.

The shorter teenager grabbed Conner’s wrist, starting to tug the clone towards the main lobby area where the Titans were no doubt attempting to sort the situation. Tim had left Cassie in charge and hadn’t returned, and from what he’d heard she was doing a pretty good job. The only member he knew for a fact was not accounted for was the new Robin. Damian had been forced to join in the group recently at the insistence of Dick. That kid only listened to Grayson. If the youngest Robin ever listened to anyone, that is.

As soon as they entered the main lobby of the pristine new building, the present Titans reacted in confusion.

Well, Tim figured, he was wearing only a hospital gown in 20 degree weather in the middle of the night. The citizen of Gotham glanced down at his appearance, not surprised to see that he was practically caked in grime and other people’s blood. He silently hoped that the blood was a hallucination. 

“Uh.. Who’s th-” Cassie started from her position in the receptionist’s chair before being interrupted by an overexcited Bart.

“Wow! Tim Drake! Dude, you look like shit!” The speedster said from directly behind a shocked Tim.

Tim paused to consider his words before speaking, eventually ending up with, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph lend me strength.” He mumbled, making his way over to one of the seats he could only assume were meant for comfort. The lobby of the new hospital had been largely funded by Wayne Enterprises. Tim had ended up coming to the grand opening not even a month before along with his brothers.

From what he could tell, all of the Titans except the former Young Justice members were in the lobby. He couldn’t see any Gotham police, and noted that Kon and Cassie were talking about him. Tim focused on the unique architecture and window placement of the building rather than the fact that the large bats he was hallucinating were, in fact, not biting him. 

“-ou alright, Tim?” The young man heard directed towards him a few minutes later, finally coming out of his haze. 

Tim glanced over at the other three in confusion, nervously messing with the edges of the dingy hospital gown practically hanging off of him. How long had they been inside of the building?

“Well, Tim Wayne, do you have any ideas? You’re the Wayne Enterprises technology wonder kid, right?” He could hear Cassie ask him, likely having been filled in by Conner and a hyperactive Bart.

“Actually, I might have an idea..” Tim pushed himself up and out of the chair, and moving towards the trio, “Scarecrow’s holding the League and the Gotham heros inside of the old Memorial Hospital. The best way to get through the situation would be to send someone who can easily get out of nailed down metal restraints as a distraction. They should be able to escape before Crane injects them with toxin they’ll be able to gather attention.”

Tim pushed the hair out of his eyes, looking up towards the others. God. Since when was he shorter than them? Either way, Cassie and Bart seemed impressed, and Conner was smiling at him. The former Robin looked away, unable to hide his small smile.

“We’ll have to wait until the rest of the team gets back. Conner, you’ll be the one to get into the Hospital.” Cassie directed, “Have Tim explain to you what to expect when you’re kidnapped by Scarecrow’s thugs.”

“Right.” Conner responded, glancing at the shorter teen.

Tim nodded slowly, his face slowly becoming clouded over as he stared at the trio in horror. They were glaring at him, their eyes clouded white. They pushed him over. He started screaming hoarsely, realizing with horror that the effects of the Epipen must have been wearing off. 

“Tim!” Conner exclaimed, immediately attempting to catch Tim with telekinesis. He didn’t drop the other, even when he began struggling.

“Cassie! Bart!” Tim yelled in horror, shrinking away as he attempted to move away. Cassie and Bart both jumped at their civilian names being used staring at the shorter boy as he scratched at his throat. 

All three teens made the connection between the mild mannered Wayne boy and their former leader; And that was when Tim struggled to keep his expression under control through the pain. There was only one person that knew their identities and would struggle through intense mental pain to control their emotions.

Conner covered his mouth with his hands, eyes widening with horror. How hadn’t he known? How could he have been so oblivious?

Tim all but writhed on the floor as several nurses from upstairs made their way down the stairs, silently carrying Tim upstairs to give him medical attention to put off his reaction again. 

The former Young Justice stood in shocked silence as Tim- No, Robin -was wheeled away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the ending everyone! Tim will be just fine, I promise.
> 
> The next chapter will be following Conner.
> 
> My Tumblr is tombstonestomorrow.tumblr.com


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conner infiltrates the Scarecrow's base, Tim continues to have medical complications.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It gets pretty intense at some points, so fair warning.

Conner wasn’t completely sure to do with the information of the boy he’d been shamelessly flirting with was his best friend that he hadn’t seen in a year. He’d been dead for that year. To be completely honest, he wasn’t ready for this. 

His brows furrowed together, slumping over in the chair next to Tim’s bed. The nurses that had stayed behind to care for any injuries people they evacuated had received had told him that, if the doctors were present, Tim would be in critical condition. They’d hooked him up to a dripping IV, wrapped the now bleeding wounds, and given him whatever drugs they could. 

The clone looked up from the floor at Tim, looking over his bare arms and staring in shock at the scars littering the other’s skin. Robin had used the pool at the Titans Tower, and the amount of scars had been surprising even then. Conner traced a large, deep scar that ran up the side of Tim’s arm, grimacing.

“When did he get..” He mumbled, running a thumb over another scar on the other’s neck. It was dangerously close to an important nerve.. Too close for Conner to be assured of Tim’s safety during his absence. 

If he’d known Tim was in danger so often, he would have helped him. If he had been.. Available, that is. Conner leaned down slowly, pecking Tim on the cheek. He sighed through his nose, brushing the hair off of the other boy’s cheek. The half-Kryptonian leaned away from Tim’s face.

He paused before standing all the way up. Conner moved towards the door, grasping the cold metal handle. The only light in the room was coming from the brightly lit hospital hallway. The city outside the building was so covered in soot that the moonlight was barely visible in the sky. Fires had started sprouting all over, a final “cleansing” act from the rioting thugs throughout the city. 

Conner quietly left the room.

Tim’s eyes opened slowly as he heard the door click shut.

*

The weather in Gotham City had always been dreary, Conner thought, but the effects of the Scarecrow’s men’s rioting seemed to have multiplied it by ten. The smell of ash pierced Superboy’s nostrils as he landed in the street, on the same street as the old hospital. Tim hadn’t given much information before he’d had his Anaphylactic episode. 

All Cassie knew, honestly, was that Conner would be able to make appropriate decisions while in a stressful situation. Which, she was, for the most part right. Though that was mostly because he’d always had solid plans to focus on. 

He squatted near the curb, coughing slightly as smoke moved from a small fire not far from where he’d chosen to sit. Conner couldn’t act surprised as he could hear some henchmen setting a fire not more than 20 feet away. As they exited the building, Conner pretended to cough loudly so as to tip them off his location.

They took the bait very quickly. Conner didn’t provide much of a struggle against them as he was yanked back, and pretended to be knocked out as they shoved a bag over his head. 

“Ugh. This guy’s too fuckin’ heavy..” He heard one man grunt, dragging him towards the hospital. The entrance to Wayne Memorial Hospital wasn’t more than 20 feet away.

It wasn’t long before he was handed off to someone inside, and presumedly brought up an elevator to an upstairs room. Conner could hear the whirr of the old elevator, and the squeak of his black thick soled boots as he was dragged on the floor. He was screwed down into the chair, his eyebrows furrowing together as the metal pressed sharply into his wrists uncomfortably.

As Conner sat waiting for the Scarecrow to enter and do whatever he was going to do to him, he realized something awful. 

Tim hadn’t known he was alive when he’d entered Smallville, and had to hide his identity for that long. The clone knew for a fact he wouldn’t have been able to control himself if he knew who Tim was.. If he hadn’t seen Tim in a year, he’d grab him an-

The door handle turned slowly and who he assumed to be Scarecrow entered the room.

The bag was pulled off his head unceremoniously. Scarecrow let out a bark of laughter at the sight of Conner, causing confusion in the teenager.

“When they’d told me that you’d been kidnapped, Superboy,” Scarecrow’s voice came down from the laughter, still with a hint of mirth, “I’d thought it was too good to be true.” 

Conner glared at the older man, refusing to speak to him.

“Oh.. Not going to speak, huh?” He circled the metal examination table the clone was bolted down to, making his way to where he kept his toxins.

Conner paused for a moment, deciding to trick Scarecrow.

He surely didn’t know all of Conner’s origin story: Especially if he was locked up in Arkham Asylum so often. Scarecrow must have used a Fear Toxin injection infused with Kryptonite to hinder Clark, because Robin had mentioned several times that Fear Toxin was based solely on human brains, and not Kryptonian ones. And, hopefully, not half-Kryptonian ones.

Just as Scarecrow turned around, holding a slightly green vial as compared to the metallic brown of the other vials, Conner remarked: “You know the Kryptonite won’t affect me, right? I’m not Kryptonian. It’s kinda dumb to assume that, man.”

The Gotham villain seemed to reconsider his actions before grabbing a vial labeled clearly as “Human: MetaHuman”. Thank god.

“Maybe you really are a Scarecrow. With like, a straw brain, or something.” Conner mumbled, going back to his old habits. Insulting villains really was one of his favorite things to do, if he were to be honest.

“Honestly, Superboy.” He could hear muffled from behind Scarecrow’s bag-head-mask-thing. Crane made the move to inject Conner with the Toxin which (hopefully) wouldn’t affect him, pushing the needle into his skin without any warning.

“Owch!” Conner squeaked, flinching slightly. He could feel the liquid attempting to do something to his body: But it thankfully wasn’t successful. He feigned pain and fear enough to get a pass from Scarecrow, another thug willingly taking Superboy towards what he assumed was formerly an office room. 

The clone made his move towards the hallway, only to be dragged in the other direction. “You have to put on the hospital gown first, pretty boy.” Remarked the tough looking female thug, shoving him into what he assumed to be a supplies room. The walls had shelves on one side, the other side a mangle of unused medical equipment. Vials were stacked in the corner, all a medical green color.

The half-Kryptonian paused before grabbing one of the larger hospital gowns, folding each article of clothing as he stripped and put the gown on. 

He effortlessly used his TTK to tie the back as well as he could. Conner placed his folded clothing in the corner of the room, deciding to go back and get it if he could. He really liked those boots..

“Well,” Conner remarked calmly as he opened the door to the room into the hallway, only to be clobbered on the head by a henchman.

*

Tim lay awake in the hospital bed, staring out his window. The nurses had told him that they’d hooked him up to an IV and given him what they could to keep him stable until Conner got the situation under control. The room was to clean it felt completely sterile: Almost a complete opposite of his experience in the old Gotham Memorial. He was hooked up to only one IV, and he couldn’t move much. Tim’s more serious cuts had been stitched up. 

The city outside was shrouded in a murky fog of ash: Almost enough to completely block the bright red sunrise over the city.

Tim looked back into the room jumping as he saw Conner. Tim and Conner stared at each other for almost five minutes in complete silence before Conner suddenly appeared on top of him. 

“Conner?” Tim mumbled, unsure.

The clone didn’t respond as he raised his hands to cup Tim’s cheeks, pressing their foreheads together. Tim was breathless, raising his hands to rest on top of Conner’s. Wasn’t he in the hospital?

Just as Tim started wondering, Conner leaned in and caught his lips. The kiss was nothing like he’d expected: A sweet and simple peck on the lips. That was, until Tim allowed his mouth to open, and Conner took advantage of the situation. It was pretty standard until Conner bit Tim’s tongue hard enough to pierce skin, filling Tim’s mouth with the coppery taste of his own blood.

Tim opened his eyes in shock, struggling away as soon as he made the realization that the other’s eyes were stark white. As soon as blood began to bubble from Conner’s mouth, his mind’s projection wrapped his hands around his now constricting neck. 

Tim screamed for help, scratching at the hands around his neck, much like the last time he encountered this fake Conner.

The teen slammed his hand against the emergency button, blacking out completely as he heard people running into the room in a panic. The undeniable feeling of blood trickling down his neck from his fervent scratching.

*

It couldn’t have been 20 minutes before Conner came too. He was tied and gagged, in a frankly sloppy effort. It took less than a minute for him to get himself free, even without TTK. The waiting room he was placed in was filthy, with several people staring at him from where he lay on the floor. Conner couldn’t see well enough to tell who they were until his eyesight focused to reveal a familiar face: Kara Zor-El. Honestly, not a bad way to wake up.

Though, she was technically his cousin. Aunt? Whatever. His family tree was so confusing he’d given up a long time ago on trying to make sense of it.

He sat up slowly, quirking an eyebrow at Supergirl. The other Super seemed fine, if not a little bit roughed up. Her hair was tangled, and her hospital gown was caked in dirt. The inhuman electric blue eyes all of those related to Kal-El shined even in the dingy light. Kara was about to speak to Conner, but she checked over him quickly for injuries before starting any conversation.

“This is a mess, huh, Kon?” Kara started, crossing her arms over her grimy hospital gown. 

It was only then that Conner looked around the room, realizing there were more people in the room than he’d thought before. He could see several other heroes, such as Green Arrow, around the room.

When Conner didn’t respond, Kara continued, “Most of the toxins have gotten out of our systems. But, the Kryptonite power is still hindering Kal and I’s powers..” 

Conner looked back at his aunt-cousin-sister-distant relative, clearing his throat before explaining, “I still have my powers. I tricked Scarecrow into giving me the wrong serum. You think we can come up with a plan to get everyone out of here in one piece?”

Kara grinned in response, standing up and offering Conner a hand. The clone was slightly dizzy after being knocked out. He stumbled forwards before gaining his balance. As the teen stood and observed the room as well as he could in the dark, Kara began explaining what had been happening in the hospital.

“The regular syringes couldn’t penetrate Superman’s skin, or mine, so Scarecrow ground Kryptonite he received from god knows who into a powder. That’s what he put into the fear toxin so it’d affect Kryptonians,” Kara elaborated, crossing the room towards the small group of JL members in the corner. “But he injected you with human Toxin, right?”

Conner hummed in agreement, following Supergirl. All 3 of the heroes present had been stripped of their weapons. From what he could tell, the other heroes were still coming off of the Toxin. They’d been, as a team, locked up in the hospital for almost 3 days. How long did that stuff last?

Kara-El sighed, squatting near the others, who were sleeping on the floor. Conner was suddenly reminded that he hadn’t slept at all that night. That made him decide to get this whole thing over with, rescue his Dad and his team, Tim’s brothers, and then get everyone to safety: And, importantly, Tim to a more trusted medical professional. Or Martian Manhunter, either way he wanted his crush to survive.

The half-Kryptonian paused for a moment. How was Tim? He’d be worried, if he knew where he was. The nurses had said they’d transport him to another trusted hospital as soon as the situation was under control, but Conner was still worried about the other teen.

“So, Conner, I think that you should sneak around to find an antidote to Fear Toxin. It’s got to be around here somewhere.. We can administer it. Then we all start fighting.” Kara started, giving Conner her ideas. 

Conner wasn’t usually alright with being stealthy, but it’d be almost too easy to hover above in the hallway to get around.

He nodded.

*

Superboy was never proud of his stealth skills, and neither were any of his teams before him: Tim especially had consistently gotten onto him for blowing cover. But Conner was actually doing a pretty solid job getting back from the storage room with the gowns and all of those weird vials. 

It had seemed to be a supply closet for the henchmen working immediately in the hospital: It held a few maces along with many vials of antidote, probably incase of an accidental inhalation. 

Even the ceiling of the hospital was grimy, Conner thought to himself as he flew close to it. The place had probably been abandoned as soon as the new hospital had opened. Probably for about a year, too, because places like this didn’t get so dirty so quickly. The clone ducked through the hole that he had carefully made above the door to the waiting room. 

He landed softly, huffing a sigh. Conner smiled slightly after realizing he’d been successful. 

“Superboy, over here.” He could hear from Supergirl, who was in the corner with the other Justice League members. Conner handed off all the vial’s she’d need for the amount of members in the room. Kara nodded at him, which prompted him to make his way out of the room.

It wasn’t a particularly stressful rescue op, and he eventually located Superman alone in an examination room. His genetic father was the last one he’d found, along with the last vial he’d have to give.

“Uh, Kal. Here’s the antidote to the Fear Toxin. That should clear it from your system.” Conner elaborated after setting the last vial down on Clark’s lap.

Clark nodded sharply, completely shocked by just how serious his genetic son was about the situation. Superman stood after downing the vial of liquid. It burned his throat, and he quickly broke out into a sweat. Must be the most affective way to dispel it from the system, Clark thought to himself, heaving a sigh as he could feel his abilities returning.

“We’ve got to get everyone together,” Clark suggested lightly, straightening his cape.

“I know. I’ve been giving everyone the antidote.” Conner assured.

Clark smiled at his son. “Good job.”

Conner didn’t respond and just returned the smile, leaping back into the air and landing in front of the locked door. He could tell that the thugs didn’t have any idea what was going on. The clone had slipped by unnoticed, which the JL could use to it’s advantage. Conner unlocked the door behind him using TTK, allowing his father to walk through the door: The pair of them began opening doors as fast as they could, their opponents quickly noticing.

Civilians filled the halls, all crowding their way as fast as they could to the exit. They easily overwhelmed the Scarecrow’s henchmen. Everyone was pushing past each other to get to the doors.

Clark stuck behind and fought, but Conner filtered through the crowd in an attempt to find any of Tim’s siblings and let them know that he was in the hospital. He’d explain how he found out his identity later: What was important at the moment was that everyone got out safely and the thugs were put into custody, along with the Scarecrow.

Conner jumped as he heard sirens outside. It was then that he realized the Titans must have shown up to help, along with the GCPD.

He was suddenly grabbed by the new Batman in a panic.

“Superboy! I thought you were with my brother?”

“Yeah, well ab-” Conner paused, his eyes widening, “You knew and you didn’t tell Tim?”

“Well, duh. He wouldn’t have gone if he’d known. Besides, he needs to stay out of the city.” Dick mused. “I’m going to slip out to check on.. where I.. Live..”

Conner laughed for a second, responding, “I know, an.”

The half-Kryptonian could tell even through Dick’s mask that he was shocked.

“Tim told you his identity?” Dick’s voice was high with disbelief.

“Well.. You could say that.”

*

Dick led Conner to the Wayne manor, eventually making their way through the hospital. Clark had somehow tagged along for the short trek. Turned out Clark had known Batman’s identity longer than anyone, before Dick even started out as Robin. Conner had an idea as to why Clark had found out Tim’s dad’s identity, but he probably didn’t want to think about it.

The manor was on the nice side of town, near the mansions in the upper side of town. It wasn’t even in the city. It was practically on the edge, and it had taken roughly 20 minutes to walk. Conner had never been to the Manor before dropping Tim off earlier- Something he now regretted -and was excited, in an odd way.

The trio approached the front door, Dick looking concerned as he looked through the window. Dick removed his cowl, running a hand through his hair much like Tim always did. Must be a family thing, Conner thought to himself.

“Uh, anyone there?” Dick yelled into the empty space of the manor.

They weren’t expecting a response, but all three almost jumped into the air (With the exception of Conner, who actually jumped into the air) when a man’s voice called out from what Conner assumed was the kitchen.

“Dick?” Bruce yelled, rounding the corner into the entrance. 

“.. Dad?” Dick choked, his voice cracking.

“Bruce!” Clark exclaimed, almost knocking the other man over with his almost tackle of an embrace.

Conner stood in silence, watching with wide eyes. Everyone had told him the original Batman was dead. Conner then realized that he’d almost gotten one of his sons killed on his own, and had been almost the direct reason for his son’s hospitalization. Well, fuck.

“Where are the others?” Bruce asked, his voice still weak from a year of misuse. “And why on earth is the manor almost ripped to shreds?”

“Well, funny story actually, Dad..” Dick began, drawing a breath before beginning to explain, “Scarecrow may have been in control of the city for almost two weeks. Any there was a mandatory evacuation. And half of the buildings have burned down.”

“I, ah..” The millionaire paused for a moment to find the word, “..Leave for a year, and this is what I’ve come back to?”

“If it’s all fine with everyone, I’d like to visit Tim at the hospital.” Conner almost blurted.

Bruce looked up at Conner in shock. “So you didn’t die?”

“No, sir.”

“Does Tim know?”

“Yes.”

Bruce raised his eyebrows in response. “Why’s he in the hospital?”

“He’s super allergic to the Fear Toxin, apparently.” Dick commented, still staring at his adoptive father in shock.

“Well, let’s get on with it, then.”

*

The new hospital was the busiest that any of them had ever seen. People from the old hospital had all immediately gone to the clean, bright building. They’d only had a handful of nurses on the scene; Most of the medical professionals had been evacuated, and those nurses that had stayed had been asked to by the GCPD. Quite a few people recognized them as they entered the hospital. People were asking them questions as they passed, looking to them in hope. 

It was always odd to Conner to be looked up to.

No one questioned why Bruce Wayne was entering the building and going up stairs with Superman, Superboy and Batman, because they were so busy focusing on those who had been seriously injured.

“Uh.. Tim Wayne. He’s in room 436, right?” Conner asked meekly.

“No, actually, he was moved to just regular care a few hours ago. He’s lucky the doctors started arriving as he relapsed.”

The ginger woman went on to describe how as soon as the GCPD had confirmed that the threat was almost neutralized, Doctors that had been on standby had returned to the hospital in advance. Tim had gone into another horrifying hallucination and had a relapse of his Anaphylaxis just as the first car had arrived. She told them that he was stable, but was still under and probably would be asleep for at least 5 more hours.

Bruce and Dick looked increasingly worried as she explained what was going on.

“May we see him anyways?” Clark asked over their worried silence.

“Sure. Should I have a doctor tell you the details?” 

“Yes.” Bruce mumbled, following directly behind the nurse as she led them to room 442.

As soon as she opened the door, Conner was immediately by Tim’s side. He pulled a chair next to Conner’s left side, staring at him in worry. The others all sat in the other chairs. 

Tim seemed like he’d been drained of all of this color. A mask was strapped over his face, forcing air into his lungs. The former Robin had always seemed tiny but strong in comparison to others, and even his family. Conner had never seen him look so fragile. And he was hooked up to so many IVs.. 

A doctor walked into the room casually, only pausing for a moment at seeing 3 fully costumed superheroes and Bruce Wayne in the room. 

“Well, this is a surprise.” The man mumbled, pausing near the foot of Tim’s bed. “Doctor Loeb.”

Bruce looked over at the man expectantly. The only one who didn’t turn their attention to the doctor was Conner, who was still staring at Tim in worry.

“Tim here’s had a serious reaction to the Fear Toxin due largely in part to his complete lack of a spleen,” Dr. Loeb explained, “Now, I’m not sure how he has no sp-”

“He has no spleen?” Dick and Bruce asked in perfect synchronicity, both leaning forwards in their respective chairs.

“Well, yes. He has no spleen, and therefore his body is having trouble filtering it out of his system. I went ahead and gave him the necessary medicines to help his body deal with the issue.”

When no one interrupted him, Doctor Loeb continued, “Tim needs to be on regular medicines and antibiotics to prevent infection or other complications.”

Bruce nodded in agreement, staring at Tim in worry. How had he lost his spleen? How long had he been without the supplements he needed to survive without one? Bruce was shocked that Tim hadn’t become ridiculously sick, like go to the hospital sick since his apparent removal of spleen.

“We’re planning on transporting him to the Norcoast area, there’d be more doctors there to take care of him. Is this alright with you?”

“Yes.”

“Well, it’s settled. Tim’ll be there by 12 AM. I’ll see you all there later?”

“Actually,” Clark began, standing up from his seat. “Superboy and I need to head back to Metropolis. We have some talking to do.”

Dr. Loeb raised his eyebrows, letting Superman walk past him out the door.

Conner paused to consider, before going ahead and leaning over and kissing Tim on the cheek: Much like he had done earlier. This caused surprise in both members of the Bat clan. Conner left the room as quickly as he could.

As soon as Conner exited the room, Clark had made his way towards an open window.

“You ready to go?”

“I.. I guess.” Conner mumbled.

They both made their way out of the city soon enough, the sun shining down on the two. Clark kept glancing at his son in confusion and concern, looking like he wanted to talk to him about something.

After what must have been the hundredth time, Clark finally asked: “Conner, are you alright?”

The clone paused for a moment to consider. Was he alright? No. In all honesty, Conner had quite possibly wrecked one of, if not the most important relationship in his life. Tim was seriously injured, out cold and in the hospital. Conner couldn’t help but blame himself for the situation they were both in.

It was then that he made the decision to avoid Tim by all means: If Tim blamed him as much as Conner blamed himself, he’d never want to see Superboy again.

“I sure hope so,” Conner mused sadly, turning his head in the direction of the sun.

The sun shone in his face, seeming much happier than it should have. Below him he could hear cars, news reporters, and innocent civilians returning to Gotham City. Conner should have been going that direction, going back to Tim, taking care of him. But Conner knew that the best option would be for him to let the shorter go.

“I sure hope so.” The half-human repeated to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next one's the big finale! Now that the major plot's been finalized, it's time for Tim and Conner to figure themselves out.
> 
> It'll be posted on Saturday!
> 
> Tumblr: tombstonestomorrow.tumblr.com


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